I've got allergies. Bad ones. When I was a kid, no one I knew had allergies like mine. Some kids in my class said I should live in a bubble. Some adults that my parents knew used to say things like "send her over to my house! I'll teach her not to be allergic to nuts and fish."

It doesn't work like that. Eating a nut that I'm allergic to can literally kill me. It's not something that I'll grow out of, either. Today, public awareness about food allergies is on a completely different scale thanks to organizations like the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and vocal parents worldwide. Lots of schools are now nut-free. To me, this is a wonderful thing.

My daughter's school is not nut free but I choose not to send her to school with nut products. In our house we buy nut alternatives like sunbutter. The organic unsweetened variety has one ingredient: organic sunflower seeds. It's earthy, flavorful and has a terrific texture that's great for sandwiches.